Debilitated and senile patients often have difficulty in moving their bowels primarily because they do not have the strength to sufficiently increase intra abdominal tension by muscular contractions to force the stool from the rectal ampulla. This is not an infrequent occurrence in bedridden patients or patients whose activities are severely restricted so as to make them sedentary and without muscular strength. The inability to evacuate the feces leads to a condition known as fecal impaction. It is especially prevalent in patients in nursing homes. In spite of enemas and cathartics, the inspissated stool in the rectum is still retained because the patient lacks the strength to mold the stool to a size that will traverse the anal sphincter. In these patients it is necessary for a nurse or physician to disempact the stool by extracting the feces bit by bit with a gloved finger inserted into the rectum. This is difficult and time consuming. More importantly, it is uncomfortable and annoying to the patient.